Former CEO of Van Buren Co. company sentenced for tax evasion

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The former CEO of a Van Buren County energy company was sentenced Monday for federal tax evasion.

John Gerald Oakley, 66, was sentenced to a year and one day in prison for two counts of federal tax evasion. According to Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge, Oakley was Chief Executive Officer of Michigan BioDiesel, located in Bangor, Michigan. Investigators say the company claimed to produce “an alternative fuel mixture” which qualified as an excise tax-exempt fuel.

Oakley, of Dimondale, Michigan, was also ordered to pay back over $1.9 million to the IRS, which had been sent as tax refunds to Michigan BioDiesel and Oakley’s personal federal taxes.

A second person, Tracy Darin Daniels of Mississippi, was sentenced to two years of probation for providing false documents to Oakley, which he then filed in bankruptcy court.